Sunday, January 8, 2012

A Good Reminder

Mindy Kaling's book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) is a reminder that just because a person is in the entertainment business does not mean they are different from you and me. Kaling writes of her early struggles to find a satisfying job (insanely relatable), how she came to terms with her body image, and makes it clear that she understand she's not perfect and that's ok. The book is formatted into a set of short essay-style rants and observations; some chapters employ lists. Her writing style is very conversational, so much so that it is hard not to hear it as Kelly Kapoor, her Office alter-ego, spouting off her thoughts on diets, fashion, and celebrities.

As a longtime Office fan, the chapter chronicling her work on the show is very interesting ("a big chapter in her life, so... a big chapter in [her] book"). Not because she dishes on the stars of the show, she is pretty mum on that subject, but because she gives a sense of the friendships and sense of community that arose and helped turn the show into a success.

From the back cover

It also must be noted that the book contains pictures from Kaling's life, as both a youngster and an adult. Nothing makes a person more relatable than seeing a picture of them with a "Cosby sweater on, lovin' life" and realizing that there is a very similarly staged and fashioned photo of yourself in a box somewhere in your parents' house. In fact, with the exception of the fact that she is of Indian descent while I am as white as they come, she and I could have been fashion twins growing up.

IEHOWM is a breezy read for sure, as Kaling points out herself in the Q&A introduction: "If you're reading this book every night for months, something is not right."